Let’s be honest, you’re probably sick of the Paolo Guerrero story by now. The will-he, won’t-he narrative has gone on for eight months and it’s almost as unbearable as the Ross and Rachel storyline that kept people watching “Friends” for years even though it was never ever really all that funny.
No qualified nation’s World Cup cycle has been quite as dramatic as that of Egypt’s. The Pharaohs got off to a flyer in qualifying before an August defeat to Uganda threw everything in jeopardy. Step forward Mohamed Salah.
Growing up as a reader of Sports Illustrated and a fan of soccer were two mutually exclusive things. Every week, I’d immediately flip through the magazine looking for an article from Grant Wahl or a blurb concerning the world’s game, but it was an extremely rare occurrence.
Argentina began its World Cup tune-ups in earnest on Tuesday with the first of two friendlies before opening group play against Iceland on June 16. La Albiceleste welcomed Haiti to La Bombonera in Buenos Aires — a meeting between the nations currently holding spots five and 108 in the FIFA World Rankings.
In what all USMNT fans had hoped would be a World Cup tune-up game, the friendly between the USMNT and Bolivia had a decidely different narrative. Interim manager Dave Sarachan selected a number of USMNT young players against Bolivia, and their performances showed promise.
Mario Balotelli made his triumphant return to the Italian national team against Saudi Arabia on Monday and managed to score an outstanding goal early on.
In true Balotelli form, it only took him just a measly twenty minutes to find the back of the net. They really could have done with him against Sweden.
The match was the first of former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini’s tenure as the coach of the Italian team, and the Azzurri went on to win 2-1.
According to The Tennessean, a September 11 friendly between the United States and Mexico will take place at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The USMNT will face Brazil at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 7 before making the 900 mile journey to face El Tri in the Music City.
Celebrating its first FIFA World Cup appearance in 36 years, Peru sent a fantastic reminder of its footballing heritage and indomitable spirit to Group C rivals France, Denmark and Australia via Twitter.
The two-minute hype video will send shivers down your spine with shots of the Andes mountains, the Amazon Basin, Lima, Machu Picchu and the nation’s brilliant World Cup qualifying campaign (take a seat, Luis Suarez).
Since its introduction in 1992 as a replacement for the European Cup, the UEFA Champions League has served as the world’s premier club tournament. The prestigious competition is where legends are born, and those legends don’t get any bigger than the players with the most career goals in Champions League history.
Spain manager Julen Lopetegui announced his 23-man squad for the World Cup in Russia on Monday, and the big news is that the Chelsea quartet of Alvaro Morata, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Marcos Alonso have all been omitted after a disappointing season in the Premier League.